Beyond Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
by BlackPuma137
Summary: No, Susan, she reminded herself. Don't do it. Don't even think about getting close to him. But then, she wondered, isn't it too late? Movie verse.
1. The Stargazers

**Beyond The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (The Movie)**

_Author's Note: The series, by C.S. Lewis, is one of my favorites, but I really love the Susan/Caspian romance angle. Here's a bit of drabble that's probably going to span from the empty space between the victory at the river and when they leave, then a bit of drabble in the beginning of the Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and an epilogue at the end. (Unless I make them seperately...) Sorry for the rambling; on with the writing! Setting, here, is on a hill in a meadow where Narnians have set up tents for the surrendering on the downhill side and Narnian tents on the top (think the first movie) a few yards from the river._

Susan made the last of her rounds, ensuring the enemy party were finally settled down in their tents, then walked back to the Narnian tents to get some rest. She laid back on the pillows (used by all as a makeshift bed) and closed her eyes, trying to get some sleep. It was to no avail, however, and after a few more minutes, she decided to get up. She side-stepped the other sleepers, almost yelping when she heard Lucy mumble something about lions. She breathed a quick sigh of relief when she realised everyone was, in fact, asleep, then proceeded outside. The sun was just setting, and soft oranges and pinks and purples and blues splayed across the horizon. Susan walked luxoriously along the path, chuckling when she heard members of other tents celebrating.

As she continued along the path, going downhill now, opposite the enemy party, she relished the Narnian land. Susan knew the others thought her as the practical one, the one who didn't have as much faith or love in Narnia as the others. But she did—sometimes she thought she loved it more. It broke her heart when they last returned, so much so she had to convince herself that England was where she belonged—she never wanted to feel that pain again. But in the back of her head, she had a foreboding thought that perhaps this was the last time she would come here.

Susan shook her head, trying to shake those thoughts out her head. It was no use musing over that—she was here now. She reached the outer edges of the meadow, entering the sleepy, whispering forest. About halfway between the meadow and the river, however, she turned off the path—when they had last fought a battle here, over a thousand years ago, she had found the perfect star-gazing place—a tall mound of rocks, several in a large circle; easy to pull yourself onto and high enough to look over the trees at an angle; yet small enough to stay secluded.

Susan loved looking at the stars; they seemed to wink and laugh at her and each other, always having fun yet radiating peace in the nighttime sky. And so she lay there, gazing at the sky...

...until, all of a sudden, she came out of her trance and heard muffled footsteps in the pitch-black night. With a slight gasp, she fumbled for her quiver and arrows—only to realize she had forgotten them. The newcomer came faster, until she could practically feel his prescence next to her. She fumbled along her belt, grabbing her small dagger instead and bringing it up to his throat, all in a matter of seconds.

"Now, explain who you are before I cut your throat open," she threatened. She hated being attacked, and hated having to threaten people even more.

"Easy, Susan, it's just me," came a familiar voice, rather amused.

Susan gave a sigh of relief. "Heavens above, Caspian, you nearly gave me a heart attack. And quit chortling!"

He pulled a straight face, only just barely succeeding until they both cracked up. "Alright, I'm quite sorry, if that helps. Now may I please accompany you on this lovely rock? I rather love watching the night sky."

"How'd you find this place? I was rather under the impression it was my secret."

"No, I was roaming through the forest after we set up camp and thought it would be perfect for _my _star-gazing."

"Roaming off the path? Seems rather dangerous for an unaccompanied foreigner such as yourself."

"That's what I have your horn for, though." Caspian added with a wink. "Besides, what are _you_ doing roaming off the path?"

Susan blushed. "I happen to have lived here a few hundred years ago as a queen, remember?"

"Yes, I do." Caspian gazed into Susan's eyes long enough to make her uncomfortable, and she looked away.

"Anyways, I'd better be off."

"What? But you can't be leaving!" Caspian protested, putting his body in the way of hers as she slid off the rock.

Startled by his sudden proximity, she leaned backward, and he too, leaned away a bit. Suddenly disoriented by his radiating body heat, she heard herself contradict herself. "Well...I guess just a little bit longer couldn't hurt."

"Good," Caspian said, then moved backward and leaped up to settle himself on the rock. Susan shook her head. _Get yourself together, _she thought. She circled around to the other side and leapt up herself. Again, she was startled by how close they were. Caspian seemed to sense this, and scooted a bit to the left. "Sorry."

And so they lay next to each other, looking up the sky. Susan pointed out constellations Caspian hadn't heard off, and he regaled her with stories of his battles. She, in turn, told him éndless stories from her reign. Caspian found himself laughing and laughing, and he delighted in returning the favor and looking at the sparkle of her eyes whenever she told him a particularly amusing story. Susan, in turn, found herself reveling in the quiet wit of Caspian, the way he looked around and saw the light in everything around him. Soon, though, they slipped into a compainable silence as the night lengthened and the yawns came more often. Until, that is, a rather ghastly breeze came through, leaving Susan shivering.

"Why don't you come closer?" Caspian asked. "You seem rather chilled."

"It's—it's okay."

"Really, I wouldn't mind."

Susan thought for a bit, then decided she was rather too cold to protest anymore. She scooted closer, and Caspian put his arm around her. Susan stiffened for a bit, but then relaxed. And so they lay next to each other in this fashion—his arm around her, and her head on his chest.

Susan reveled in the strength of his body-he was very subtly muscular and by Lion's Mane, he smelled delicious... She had to admit, she'd rather sleep out here every níght-no, Susan, she reminded herself. Don't do it. Don't even think about getting close to him. But then, she wondered, isn't it too late? Would it be so bad? She resolved to push the thought to the back of her mind, and soon, they both fell asleep.


	2. Waking

**Waking**

_Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews guys! I really appreciate them, and did realize Caspian should be more shy. I feel iffy about this chapter, but decided to publish it anyway. Hopefully everyone gets more of the sense of shyness around Susan and Caspian, even though Caspian is more open to the concept of love (I think that's why he came out so open last chapter). More reviews please! :)_

"Susan...Susan!...SUSAN!"

Startled, Susan woke up suddenly to the sound of her voice being yelled. She found herself looking right into Edmund's eyes.

"Finally...took forever to wake you up!"

"So...any particular reason why you were sleeping next to Caspian out here?" Peter taunted from the side, delighting in the tease and anger shown in Susan's eyes.

"Oh, come it off you two," replied a thoroughly annoyed Susan. "I'm out here because I happen to enjoy stargazing, and Caspian found me out here. By the way, how do _you_ find me?"

"That still doesn't explain why you guys fell asleep in each others arms!" Edmund teased, disregarding the latter of Susan's inquiry.

Susan look down to see his arm still around her shoulder. She shrugged out of his embrace, grateful he was still sleeping, and slid off the rock to face her two brothers.

"Oh, shut up you two. Now, move on with it and tell me why we're awake."

"We're starting the march back to the castle. Aslan's orders to begin today at noon. It's ten right now; we have time till then to pack up and get ready," Edmund said.

"Alright. Now, scram, the two of you, while I wake Caspian."

And off Edmund and Peter went, laughing and talking about Susan and Capsian. "Ten to one Susan'll reject him before the weeks out," proposed Peter quietly as they walked off; obviously not expecting Susan to overhear.

"No way! Did you see the way the dryads were fawning after him?" replied Edmund.

Susan waited until the last of their steps had faded away, then turned back to Caspian, sighing.

She didn't know what to do. On one hand, she hated the idea of making a relationship; who knows when she'll go back to England? On the other...

She shook her head. No, she was going to keep her head clear and forget the entire night. She climbed back up to wake Caspian.

Caspian was running through the forest, looking back to make sure he had left the monster behind. He paused for a bit, his hands on his knees, catching his breath. That was when he heard Susan's voice calling out for him. "Caspian! Caspian! CASPIAN!"

Startled, he opened his eyes—and found himself looking into the eyes of Susan, who stopped yelling at him as soon as she saw him looking at her.

As he tried to clear his head and leaned up to get off, Susan herself slipped off the rock and adjusted her quiver and arrows, facing the path. "Aslan has ordered us to get ready for march in two hours."

"To where?" he asked.

"To your castle and coronation," Susan replied, still facing away from him as she got ready to leave.

Caspian felt something was wrong; usually Susan always made eye contact as she spoke. "Are you alright, Susan?" he asked as he walked up to her.

"Yes, of course."

"Are you sure? Something seems...off?"

Susan turned. "I don't know what you're talking about," she replied, rather stiffly.

"Susan, you don't have to lie to me-"

"Good thing I'm not, then," she replied, then briskly began walking back to the path.

Caspian frowned. Something was definitely off, but he didn't want to push it as it was not in his place.

As he walked to catch up with Susan, he reflected on the other night. It was rare when Susan let her guard down, but last night she was completely herself.

...But to be honest with himself, Caspian didn't know how to continue.

So he caught up to Susan, and unconsciously matched her stiff attitude as they walked back to camp.


	3. By The River's Edge

**By The River's Edge**

_Author's Notes: Thanks to the beautiful reviews I've received lately, I finally managed to bring up some willpower and finally get this chapter written. Hopefully my writing's better than the last few (atrocious) chapters. And hopefully my lame plot for this chapter is forgiven? I've justneeded something to get past my writer's block. Thanks to all your reviewers! _

And so they began the march. Susan nor Caspian were strangers to it. They packed up the tents, organized the Telmarines, restored and packed supplies. They moved on.

The Narnians cheered as they walked, laughing and chattering with the trees that walked with them or leaned toward them from the side of the paths they walked along. Birds flew above them, talking just as excitedly as the smaller woodland creatures that jumped from tree to tree beside them. Peter, Edmund, and Lucy were up front behind Aslan, leading the celebrations. They didn't notice Susan staying behind as one of the very last ones of the procession, or Caspian lingering in the middle.

When they reached the middle of a large plain, Aslan turned round. A large hush came over the crowd until Aslan said, not yelling, but somehow loud enough so everyone could hear, "We shall stop here, while there is light enough to set up camp for the night."

Indeed, the sun _was_ beginning to set, and Susan was guilty of lingering a bit while she admired the soft brilliance of the Narnian sun setting. The night would be good for stargazing, she thought, as the moon began a steady climb upwards. Perhaps I'll—no. No, she couldn't go stargazing again. It reminded her too much of a path she couldn't go down.

* * *

Susan was collecting water in buckets at a nearby river the next morning when Lucy, with bright red cheeks and the bright disposition of one who has had great fun recently, came bounding down the river's edge, only able to stop herself a few inches into the river. Lucy was unlucky enough to have created such an effect that Susan was effectively soaked in water; and poor Lucy only had time to whisper a fervent "Oh dear," before Susan became furious.

"Are you mad, Lucy?" barked Susan.

"Oh, Susan, I'm really sorry!" cried Lucy.

"Lucy, don't say another word, just scram, why don't you?"

Lucy, hurt and offended, replied, "No need to be so cross! It's only a bit of water!"

Susan gave a withering glare. "Just leave, Lucy. I don't need your childish acts right now!"

Lucy gave a pout and was about to reply, when suddenly, in the blink of an eye, her arms were grabbed and held tightly behind her at a painful angle; she had barely time to yell out before she was gagged with a disgustingly dirty cloth.

Looking over at her sister for help, she discovered Susan was no better off.

"What do we have now, eh? A pair of feisty little queens by the river's edge? Why, they're almost too tempting to pass up, right boys?" A rough, deep voice was coming from behind Susan and Lucy, and despite their frantic attempts to wriggle out of their captors' arms, they couldn't do anything to help themselves.

And from the raucous sounds of laughter all around them, no one was willing to help, either.


	4. Captured

**Captured**

_Author's Note: Flashback time! Something to fill in as I think of plots._

As a rule, Susan despised being taken captured.

It had never happened to her, of course, but there had been a few close calls. And having rescued a few girls as a Queen in the old times, she knew that those girls who had been captured never came back whole. No, they usually became broken people. People that would never fully come back to their usual self.

There was one in particular that she remembered.

It had been an unusually good afternoon out, and she remembered feeling exhausted as she was on her way back to the castle. It was towards dusk, just her and Lucy, when she had heard a small cry from behind a few large bushes to her left.

* * *

"Did you hear that?" Susan said.

"What?" Lucy looked over at Susan, concerned.

"That peculiar little cry."

"Susan, it's been a long day..."  
"No, I swear it isn't me, promise!"

Susan dismounted, crept quietly towards the bush, and drew her dagger, despite Lucy's protests. Susan waved a hand effusively, trying to end her noises.

The rustling had stopped by then, of course, but Susan could hear a deep voice shushing whispered protests and pleas. Still, she kept on. Through the leaves she could see the glimpses of a rough, dark man, and patches of fair skin. When she was just on the other side of the bush, she realized she could go no further.

She stabbed.

As always, she was surprised at how much strength it took her. Indeed, the dagger merely glanced off a rib, and though the man shouted in surprise, she knew she had only moments left until she lost the edge.

She stepped forward again, thrust upwards this time. An underhand strike, upwards, broke through, and twisted: the man screamed in pain, and another girlish cry let loose as well. Susan tried not to lose her grasp. She pulled on the dagger again, releasing it's grip on the man.

As the man's cries receded into the arms of the Death, Susan stepped around on the bush.

She had to force herself not to gasp.

There lay a young girl, only a year younger than Lucy, and Susan had to restrain herself from crying out in fear that it _was_ Lucy. Gently, she wiped her dagger on the grass, and tucked it into her belt again, keeping eye contact on the little girl. Her eyes had widened as Susan cleaned it, but other than that, she made no move.

Susan crept gently towards her, wincing when the girl pulled back.

"It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you," she whispered. "That man...he's gone. He won't come back. I promise."

Susan waited until the girl had nodded to move forward again. She gathered the girl into her arms, carried her to the horses.

"Your safe, I promise," Susan said again.

Again, the girl nodded. "What's your name?" she whispered.

"My name is Susan. What's yours?"

"Darnay," the girl said. Her eyes were already closing as Susan lifted her up on the saddle.

"Darnay, did the man...?"

"No," Darnay whispered, and suddenly, she was out, fast asleep.


	5. Rescue

**Rescue**

Susan knew that if she herself couldn't be saved, she had to at least try to get Lucy away from those bastards.

She looked around—her captors had dragged Lucy and Susan, kicking and screaming, as it were, off to the woods. They knew, of course, that being off the road would eliminate all risks of them being found, so they were now stuffing the two girls in a small, dingy cave they had found.

"Put up quite a fight, laddies, eh?" grunted the tall, grubby man who had kicked Susan and Lucy into the cave. Susan narrowed her eyes. He was obviously the ringleader, and Susan was hoping that he wouldn't notice the small bulge in the back of her dress.

Susan never went without her dagger, of course, and there was no way in hell that she was going to let her and her sister be made into broken people like poor Darnay.

She was thinking of how she could reach behind and grab it without grabbing the attention of the man, and was certainly not listening to the man himself, when the man abruptly left the dingy little hole. Susan looked over at Lucy, inclining her head in question, but Lucy only shrugged. The fear was plain in her wide eyes, and it infuriated Susan even more.

Susan looked towards the entrance again, and found he had left a leering sentry at the door.

Susan rolled her eyes. Fantastic. Suddenly, though, she noticed a root of a tree sticking out from the wall.

She glanced toward the door again. The sentry was doing his job, finally, and looking out towards the woods. Susan lifted herself a bit, grimacing at the sharp pain of the blood returning to her legs again. She settled her head against the root, trying to catch the fabric of the gag on the twig itself.

Finally, it caught, and she pulled. The gag pulled free, and Susan gasped at the new found air. Susan looked over at Lucy and motioned her to do the same.

Lucy followed in Susan's order, looking frantically at the door in case the sentry decided not to follow orders.

"What do we do now?" whispered Lucy as her gag was released.

Susan looked towards the door again. The sentry must not be alerted, or this would be the end of them both.

Looking back at Lucy again, Susan motioned to her back. "Do you see that little bulge there?"

"Yes...is that your dagger?"

Susan nodded. "Do you have yours?"

"Yes, but the guard took it."

"Okay, then turn around and I'll try to undo your bonds so you can grab the knife and cut me free. After that, I want you to give the knife to me and I'll deal with the sentry. But you have to run, okay? Run as fast as you can, and don't look back. Have you got that?"

Lucy nodded again, and Susan noted the fear in her eyes got a little bigger. Susan could only hope that she herself would be strong enough to go through with her plan. Just as long as they didn't have Lucy...

She motioned for Lucy to turn around. Through a combination of tugging, using the root, and her teeth, she was able to get the bonds loose enough so that Lucy could twist free.

With coming free, though, blood rushed through Lucy's hands, and she gasped in surprise.

"Shh!" Susan cried. She looked toward the cave opening again. Thankfully the sentry had only jittered a bit, but hadn't actually turned round yet.

Lucy nodded. She reached around Susan, and Susan could feel her cold fingers grasping for the diamond-shaped knife behind her belt.

Then Susan could feel her hand close around it, and pull. Lucy grabbed it, and with a yell of triumph, flourished Susan's faithful dagger.

But the yell was too much.

The sentry turned around, and upon seeing a startled Lucy with a dagger, sprang into action. Lucy, shocked and unprepared, fought back valiantly against the stronger man. Susan could see, though, that Lucy's frantic movements were no match for the prepared, older man.

"Come on, Luc!" shouted Susan. She had found a fray in her bonds, and was trying to break free, before Lucy could lose the battle.

Alas, the man was showing no signs of tiring, and was easily gaining the upper hand.

"That's not helping," replied a terrified Lucy.

Finally, Susan could hear a snap—she broke through the last ribbons of her bonds and ran towards Lucy.

"Lucy, give me the dagger!"

But in the second of Lucy's hesitation, the sentry saw his chance.

That was when things began happening so fast, Susan could barely keep up.

A dark, tall figure sprang from outside and held back the sentry, but not before the sentry struck at Lucy.

And then there was red. Lucy fell, faster than Susan thought possible, and she sprang forward.

_Not my sister,_ Susan thought. _Not her._

She entirely disregarded the man that had came to her rescue, and instead focused on Lucy, who she had caught before Lucy had hit the ground.

She cradled Lucy's head on her lap, and tried not to cry as she saw a deep pool of blood form on Lucy's midsection.

Lucy's eyes, wandering, found Susan's.

"The vial," she said softly. Lucy coughed. "The vial...on...belt."

Susan's vision blurred. She vaguely spotted a tear landing on Lucy's gown.

"What—what are you talking..."

And then it hit her. Lucy's vial.

Susan grabbed her belt frantically. Her hands shook as she retrieved the vial, and it was all she could do to not to drop the vial as she leaned over the ragged edges of Lucy's gown.

She poured without abandon. How much could repair this? Lucy's eyes were drooping fast, and so much time had already gone by...so much blood had already been lost.

Suddenly, though, a pair of dark hands stopped her.

Susan looked up sharply—another captor?-but relaxed at the sight of Caspian.

"She...she..."

Caspian nodded. "I know, Susan. But it's enough. She's already coming back."

Susan looked down at Lucy, whose eyes were beginning to open.

She could no longer hold back her tears.

Lying at the base of Lucy's body, she began to sob.


End file.
